Not many rock bands can boast multiple all-time classic albums. Really, how many can even lay claim to one all-time classic album? Maybe a few dozen... not many at all. Then there is U2. Innovators, pioneers, masters of reinvention. They can make a pretty convincing argument for 4 all-time classis albums. War was their 3rd release in 1983 and gave us the classic singles New Years Day, Two Hearts Beat as One, and Sunday Bloody Sunday, and really cemented their political activist lyrics & sound. Then, four years later, they released their crowning achievement (and my favorite album of all time), The Joshua Tree. Every song was different and yet tied together. the album flowed beautifully, and it begs to be played in sequence and in its entirety. Another four year gap produced Achtung Baby, another masterpiece without a weak link, spawning such gems as Even Better Than The Real Thing, So Cruel, and Love Is Blindness. Finally, the year 2000 gave us All That You Can't Leave Behind. And with the possible exception of Pop in 1997, there was not a weak album over the breadth of their career to date. So as an exercise in fun, I decided to compile a list of my 15 favorite U2 songs over their illustrious and influential career. Mind you, these are not their 15 most popular songs (though rest assured, there are plenty of crowd pleasers here). These are the songs I would recommend to a U2 novice who wanted a great representation of the band's work. Choosing them wasn't easy. In narrowing the field, I had to leave off such gems as Bad, Gloria, I Will Follow, The Wanderer, Red Hill Mining Town, Zooropa, Elevation, Vertigo, In God's Country, Mysterious Ways, One Tree Hill, etc, etc, etc. You'll note that several albums are represented more than once and some not at all. This owes itself to the overwhelming quality of their best work. So without further ado:
The 15 greatest U2 songs of all time
15. With or Without You (The Joshua Tree) -Powerful, and elegant. Simple, haunting beauty best experienced with the volume up and your eyes closed.
14. The Fly (Achtung Baby) -Full of electronic sound and guitar distortion. Probably one of the songs that paved the way for the Zooropa and Pop albums. But I'll forgive them for Pop because this song is so cool.
13. Desire (Rattle and Hum) -Believe it or not, the song that introduced me to U2. So yes, I discovered them late. Great song, great video.
12. Where the Streets Have No Name (The Joshua Tree) -Possibly the coolest opening bass guitar part from any album ever.
11. Lemon (Zooropa) - One of the singles and the coolest song to come off their quirkiest album. Bono hitting some really high notes.
10. One (Achtung Baby) - I've seen this song at or near the top of many lists of the tops songs of the '90's. There's a reason for that. It's a beautiful ballad full of sarcasm and lament.
9. Pride (The Unforgettable Fire) -Seems to be Hollywood's favorite U2 song, as it feels like seldom does a year go by without it being featured in a TV show, movie soundtrack, or commercial for one thing or another. Their ode to Martin Luther King, it is both inspirational and uplifting.
8. Love is Blindness (Achtung Baby) -Another ballad, this one spawned an almost equally cool cover version by Jack White that has been heavily featured in the Gatsby movie trailer. Of course, U2 did it first and did it better.
7. Running To Stand Still (The Joshua Tree) -Yet another sad ballad about an junkie's struggle with addiction. The end of the song provides all the proof you'll ever need that a harmonica is a very cool, soulful instrument. This was my favorite U2 song for pretty much all of my 20's and holds a special place in my heart still today.
6. Sunday Bloody Sunday (War) -The first U2 song I ever truly loved and quite possibly their most political song. It tells the sad story of the 1972 Bloody Sunday incident in Northern Ireland. A song of anger and sorrow.
5. Walk On (All That You Can't Leave Behind) -While the album was released prior to the September 11 attacks, both the song and the album took on new resonance. A song of hope and optimism that helped me cope with the horror of the terrorist attacks.
4. Angel of Harlem (Rattle and Hum) -What made The Joshua Tree and Rattle and Hum such great albums was U2's full-on embrace of American music and the roots of rock and roll. Angel of Harlem was a tribute to American jazz and such artists as Billie Holliday, John Coltrane, and Miles Davis.
3. Two Hearts Beat as One (War) - Some of the best bass playing of Adam Clayton's career. My favorite song off one of their masterpiece albums.
2. The Electric Co (Boy) - The very best of their early work. Hard driving drums from Larry Mullen and attacking guitar from the most distinctive guitarist in rock and roll, The Edge. If someone asked me to point out the song that best exemplifies the U2 sound, this is the song I would identify.
1. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (The Joshua Tree) - Inspired by gospel music (and even performed live with a church choir in the Rattle and Hum movie), it is all about a continuing search for spirituality and meaning. Another song of hope, because though he has hasn't found what he's looking for, he's still looking, and "you know I believe it".
Up next, lists for Aerosmith, Rush, Bon Jovi, Pearl Jam, Metallica, and Billy Joel (not necessarily in that order).
